


Our stars

by babylearnedtoread



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Lovers, Episode: s02e19 The Guru, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt, M/M, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:40:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26205079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babylearnedtoread/pseuds/babylearnedtoread
Summary: What if in "The Guru" Sokka is the one Azula imprisons with Zuko? And what if Azula let's Zuko know his fate is sealed and he has no escape this time?
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 157





	Our stars

He could feel the ground opening under his feet before he even saw the earthbender move his hands. He fell in the cave below with a loud thud.

"I really hate seeing you like this, Zuzu. I wish things were different." Azula's voice echoes through the space, the sound chilling, bouncing off the walls only to make his headache more overwhelming.  
"No, you don't." He manages to mutter, hoping the echo will have the same effect on his words and send them back to his sister with spite. 

Azula lets out a maniacal laughter before returning to the same pitying voice from before. "Enjoy your time here, Zuzu. Make your last moments count." 

He tries to stand up but his limbs fall limp back on the ground. The ceiling closes above him and with that the sound of voices goes quite, leaving only his shaking breath and the ringing in his ears. 

He finally manages to stand up straight, but only for a second before his feet collapse under him. He catches himself on the edge of one of the crystals littering the cave.

The silence is broken by a snort. Zuko forces himself to look up, the light of the crystals making his eyes water. His breath catches in his throat and he jumps back, readying himself for an attack.

His attacker, however, moves his hands up in defense. "Whoa, I'm unarmed, dude!" 

"What are you doing here?" Zuko spat out the word "you", but the the other doesn't flinch. 

The water tribe boy steps closer cautiously, blue eyes reflecting the light of the crystals as if they're one and the same. He cocks his head to the side, one eyebrow raised. "The universe really does hate me." He says mostly to himself. "It always has to spit you right in my face." 

Zuko's forehead wrinkles and he let's out a groan, but lowers his arms that were ready to throw fire at the slightest move. "If this is anyone's punishment, it is most likely mine."

They don't speak for another hour, silently agreeing to just sit on each side of the cave, ignoring the other's existence. The water boy is restless in his silence, switching from pacing back and forth to droping dramatically on the ground and studying the crystals, his hands, the walls, the threads in his tunic. 

"So," he finally breaks the silence. Zuko knew it was only a matter of time. "Zuzu, wasn't that your sister that threw our asses in here." Zuko glares at him, acknowledging again after a long time the other boy's presence. 

He takes Zuko's silence as an invitation to continue. "I don't get why she took my boomerang and club. She's sure not afraid I'll hurt you." Zuko winces. "What's her deal anyway? Why does she want you dead?"

"She doesn't." Sokka raises an eyebrow in doubt. Zuko scoffs. "Maybe she does, but this is not her decision. My father wants me dead."

The other boy hums in understanding. Zuko shakes his head disbelieving his own actions. His chest tightens and he grits his treath. Something washes over him and he stands up abruptly, the pounding in his head coming back to make him stagger on his feet as he rushes towards the boy. 

"What am I doing, telling you anything, you water tribe peasants?!" The boy still doesn't flinch, only frowns even as Zuko's hand tightens in the front of his tunic, pulling him closer. "Sokka", he says, voice steady, not tearing his blue eyes away from Zuko's. 

"What?" Zuko's grip loosens a bit, taken aback by the calm voice of his "cell mate". 

"It's Sokka, not water tribe peasant." Zuko let's go of his- Sokka's - tunic, making sure to push him in the chest enough to make him loose his balance. The boy doesn't move however and Zuko's eyes widen for a moment before turning around. 

He can hear the smile in the boy's voice. "Oh come on, loosen up a bit. I'd rather be anywhere else than here too, but there's no need to rush things and kill each other now. Not that I possess the means to do so." He waves his empty hands in the air in emphasis. 

Zuko turns to face Sokka and he squints his eyes. "Your only defense have been a boomerang and a club until now and you've survived this far. I'm pretty sure you can kill me with almost anything in here." 

Zuko thinks he might see the other boy's cheeks grow darker. Sokka clears his throat and Zuko finally tears his eyes from the boy's face and looks back into the glowing blue of his eyes. 

"Yeah, you're probably right. These crystals seem pretty pointy." Sokka presses a finger on the sharp end of one them and quickly retracts it with a gasp. He puts the injured finger in his mouth and he winces. 

Zuko tries to stiffle a laugh but the hurt look the boy throws him throws him into a fit of laughter. "I'm glad my pain amuses you, you psychopath!" Sokka pouts and it only makes Zuko laugh harder. 

"What pain? You're just being a baby." A smile grows on Sokka's face. "I didn't know you were capable of laughing, Prince Grumpy."

Zuko gasps dramatically. "Prince Grumpy?"

"Yes, Your Highness." Sokka bows and straightens back up with a chuckle. 

They fall back into silence as their laughter falters and its last echo disappears into the stone walls. He hasn't even realized they've moved closer, but now he can see the boy better. 

A few strands of brown hair falling over his face catch his attention first. He takes in the sharp lines of Sokka's face, his jaw, his nose, contrasted by the soft lines of plump lips and rounded cheeks. 

His lips are parted slightly, letting the air blow slowly from between them in white, translucent clouds. 

When he moves back up to question the sudden realization that Sokka might be cold, he's met with sparkling diamonds sitting at the bottom of deep blue waters. Sokka's cheeks darken again in a tint of red and he looks away to study the palm of his hand. 

Zuko pushes a flame through his body and lets it burn out of his fingertips. Sokka flinches this time as he watches the flame approach him. 

"You're cold." Zuko whisper so not to startle him. Sokka tears his eyes from the fire and his concern melts into a smile. "Thanks."

The silence feels more comfortable this time. They lay on their back, heads inches away, but their bodies far away from each other, in a triangular position. 

They stare at the ceiling, scattered with tiny glowing crystals, stars right there for them to gaze at in the cold darkness of their prison. 

"My dad taught me about the stars. It's helpful when you're sailing." Zuko doesn't know if the pause is for him to speak or not, but he chooses the latter. 

"But I liked it more when we'd lay outside on the snow and we'd trace the constellation with our fingers." He swallows loudly and the sound vibrates through the air, echoed by the stone. 

"I liked it better because Katara was there too and..." he closes his eyes as to remember, to visualize, to see the memory in his mind, "and mom." 

The sigh Sokka lets out sounds like it's been hurting his lungs to hold in. He looks pained by the memory. 

"I used to spend a lot of time with my mother feeding the turtleducks in the pond in our garden." He feels Sokka's hair moving through his as the boy shifts to look at him. 

She liked to hum this song while she sat there with me. He turns his head too and the angle from the way they are laying has him looking directly into Sokka's eyes, faces so close he can feel the boy's warm breath tingling his skin. 

His eyes move to gaze at their stars again. Their stars. Cause they are the only ones there to see them. He closes his eyes and starts to hum the same melody his mother used to. He's never done it before, not with someone other than his mother. But Sokka needs to hear it. 

The soft whimper escaping the other boy makes Zuko stop his humming and he finds him fast asleep. He shifts in his sleep and lets his head rest against Zuko's shoulder. Zuko doesn't move away from the touch. He'll blame it on the cold. 

• 

He wakes with the sun. That's the only way time still has relevance down here in the pit of his end. 

This isn't where he will find his end, but it's what he chooses to remember last. Not the hot, burning yet ghastly coldness of the palace he grew up in. Not the ship he'll be spat on and mocked by those Azula choses to have with her as she drags him to his doom. Not under the disappointed gaze of his father. 

Here, under the soft glow of his stars, of their stars, with the gentle touch on his hungry skin, tingling with longing, under the gaze of blue piercing through the fire inside him, here is what he wants to remember. 

The past six sunrises have given Zuko the peace that he's longed for all these years since he's left his home. 

The talks they've had have lifted a weight that's been pressing on his chest, leaving him gasping for air for too long. The fingertips brushing, ghosting over his skin started fires that have been building deep inside him, only to brush over them once again and soothe the burning. 

Kisses on the forehead and palms given or gladly received have cured the ache. Soft lips on his took away all the pain years have thrown at him in mere seconds. 

He chose to remember these moments. The moments Sokka pulled him closer in his sleep, the moments his laugh would be the only thing to fill the void in the room and inside Zuko, the moments Sokka tried to reassure him that his friends would come to save them, that Zuko wouldn't have to go with his sister, that he'll hold his hand when they see the light of day. 

"Here." Sokka holds the edges of the strip of fabric he's ripped from his tunic in front of Zuko. 

Zuko tilts his head confused. "What is it?" Sokka chuckles and lets a small crystal, shaped like a tear drop, fall from his hand, hanging from the middle of the fabric. 

Zuko let's out a gasp and tears start stinging his eyes. "So you can take a star with you." Sokka blushes and he tries to avoid Zuko's eyes, his own growing redder, shining with tears that threaten to spill. 

Zuko turns around and warm hands brush over the skin of his neck and then the necklace is tied snug around his neck, comforting and easy to remember. 

He'll remember. To have him there with him. 

• 

As the sun rises for the seventh time, the ground rumbles and the ceiling opens at the same time as the wall on their left. 

From the ceiling, where their stars once were, a hand pulls Zuko. From the side, one pulls Sokka. 

"Come on, grab my hand!" A hand extended at him but he doesn't reach for it. He smiles as his heart shatters at the pained look in those blue eyes. 

"Zuko..." 

Farther away, because he can't fight the hands pulling him away. His free hand reaches for the crystal. "To remember." He whispers, too quiet to be heard over the swish of the flames and lightning and water and air and rocks flying all around them. 

But Sokka reads it on his lips. And he sobs. He sobs as he's being dragged away and Zuko tightens his grip around the crystal. It digs painfully in his palm but it feels like nothing compared to the feeling of his heart being squeezed as if someone's trying to tear out this memory out of him. 

But hey can't. This is what he'll remember then. He'll remember him.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think and I'd really appreciate if you'd also leave me some kudos ❤ with your comments! 
> 
> I felt like hurting tonight, that's why I made it more dramatic than the actual episode.


End file.
